back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 2.26.2023
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Let me get started with a quick announcement. 00:13:27.200 |
First of all, our cleaning day is coming up this Saturday, 00:13:31.200 |
and we need as many people to sign up as possible. 00:13:42.700 |
if you come here at 9 a.m. this coming Saturday, 00:13:46.200 |
the instructions will be given and we'll spread out, 00:13:48.200 |
and hopefully we can cover it all in a few hours, okay? 00:13:53.700 |
And then praise and prayer, not this coming Friday, 00:14:04.700 |
and then the other spouse is welcome to come, okay? 00:14:09.200 |
and Elder Phillip is going to be overseeing that. 00:14:12.200 |
And so please let him know or go online and you can sign up, 00:14:14.700 |
and that will be taking place on April 2nd, okay? 00:14:20.200 |
And again, if you are visiting us and you have a, 00:14:23.200 |
or even if you're not visiting, you have a physical check, 00:14:27.700 |
that you can drop off your offering, all right? 00:14:33.700 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for our life, 00:14:39.700 |
your Holy Spirit that causes us to continue to persevere. 00:14:44.200 |
I pray that you would give us a greater vision 00:14:48.700 |
that we would not be constantly entangled, Lord God, 00:14:58.700 |
and that this morning as we sing, give, and worship, 00:15:05.700 |
a vision, Father, for eternity, not temporary. 00:15:08.700 |
May the offering we give be multiplied for your use, 00:16:08.200 |
Let's all rise together as we come before our Lord. 00:17:57.200 |
♪ Praise to the King, His throne transcends ♪ 00:20:42.700 |
♪ Your love exceeds the heavens to the moon ♪ 00:22:44.200 |
♪ My guilt and cross laid on your shoulders ♪ 00:23:54.700 |
- All right, if you can turn your Bibles to Luke chapter four 00:24:20.200 |
If I read this text, I have a quick question. 00:24:25.200 |
finding parking this morning coming to this service? 00:24:32.200 |
having a hard time finding parking aren't here. 00:24:37.200 |
Yeah, we're, again, starting to run out of parking 00:24:40.200 |
so we kind of are keeping an eye on what's going on. 00:24:43.200 |
We do have other parking areas that have opened to us 00:24:57.200 |
Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever 00:25:08.200 |
While the sun was setting, all those who had any 00:25:10.200 |
who were sick with various diseases brought them to him 00:25:20.200 |
but rebuking them, he would not allow them to speak 00:25:25.200 |
When they came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place 00:25:35.200 |
But he said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God 00:25:37.200 |
"to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose." 00:25:41.200 |
So he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. 00:25:46.200 |
Heavenly Father, we pray that your word would open up to us 00:25:51.200 |
not only your desire, but even our own hearts. 00:25:56.200 |
We pray, Father God, that you would anoint this time 00:26:00.200 |
and that you would illuminate that we may understand 00:26:06.200 |
Bless this time, Lord, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 00:26:09.200 |
If I can put up some pictures of India to start 00:26:16.200 |
the text that we're looking at kind of reminded me 00:26:22.200 |
And I know it's been over a month since we came back. 00:26:25.200 |
I think it's been over a month, something like that. 00:26:28.200 |
But again, I'm not here to report to you what happened 00:26:32.200 |
but I kind of wanted to show you what it's like. 00:26:36.200 |
Usually we have wound care, but because we had 00:26:39.200 |
more medical professionals this time than the previous years 00:26:44.200 |
And so this is what it looked like in the villages 00:26:52.200 |
This year is a little bit cooler than the other years 00:26:56.200 |
and we're outside inside and it's pretty stuffy. 00:26:59.200 |
But from the moment we start until it's time for us 00:27:09.200 |
These ladies, even though they look innocent, 00:27:18.200 |
and this is what it looks like from the moment we begin 00:27:21.200 |
and the crowd actually grows throughout the day. 00:27:23.200 |
So at the end of the day, it's not like we've seen 00:27:28.200 |
and we have to tell them we can't stay here longer 00:27:30.200 |
because we can't stay there beyond the sun going down 00:27:33.200 |
and it takes a while for us to go back to the hotel. 00:27:36.200 |
So at the end of the day, it still looks like this 00:27:39.200 |
when we leave and then if you can look at the next picture, 00:27:54.200 |
They're just standing there quietly, orderly. 00:27:59.200 |
Well, I wanted to show you these pictures because 00:28:04.200 |
where most of these people don't have regular access 00:28:11.200 |
for like 30, 40 years and so it's a very strange sight 00:28:18.200 |
And then so before, we would show up to the village 00:28:22.200 |
and there would be hundreds of people waiting for us 00:28:28.200 |
and so these foreign doctors are coming to help 00:28:30.200 |
and so there'd be a large crowd waiting for us 00:28:32.200 |
and we'd be able to preach the gospel to them 00:28:37.200 |
They can't do that anymore for security reasons 00:28:45.200 |
who are there and then the word begins to spread 00:28:51.200 |
the word has slowly spread and then they begin to crowd 00:28:54.200 |
and so that large crowd, it grows throughout the day. 00:29:01.200 |
I mean we're exhausted, especially this trip. 00:29:04.200 |
We go back to the hotel, we get there around six 00:29:06.200 |
and then take about an hour, hour and a half to eat 00:29:17.200 |
And so this is what it's like throughout the whole day. 00:29:20.200 |
When we first got into India, the very first year, 00:29:23.200 |
we didn't know what to expect and so we had one eye doctor, 00:29:30.200 |
Those of you who've been with us know what it's like. 00:29:32.200 |
By herself, you know, and she had to make this dark room 00:29:36.200 |
under heavy cloth, black cloth, and she's in there 00:29:43.200 |
So by the end of the day, I mean she was worn out 00:29:49.200 |
we'd be done with the camp and then we would pack our bags 00:29:51.200 |
and head out to the airport, which would take about 00:29:59.200 |
And then we get to the airport, wait a couple hours, 00:30:01.200 |
get on the plane, and about 25, 30 hours of travel time 00:30:13.200 |
After about three, four years, it was just too much. 00:30:24.200 |
so by the time we come back, they're knocked out for a period. 00:30:27.200 |
The reason why I'm sharing with you all of this 00:30:33.200 |
is beginning to spread, people are crowding him. 00:30:40.200 |
"While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick." 00:30:46.200 |
These are people who don't have access to medicine, right? 00:30:49.200 |
And Jesus is casting out demons and people are being healed. 00:30:54.200 |
It doesn't say here, but people who had high fever and disease 00:30:58.200 |
and eventually like the blind, they're opening their eyes. 00:31:01.200 |
So imagine how desperate they were the more they hear about this 00:31:07.200 |
And the reason why Luke mentions that while the sun was setting, 00:31:16.200 |
So on the Sabbath--and again, there's no regulations 00:31:26.200 |
"Sabbath, you can't move around, you can't do this." 00:31:33.200 |
but they're waiting to be able to get to him. 00:31:36.200 |
So when they came to him, it wasn't this gradual growing of this crowd. 00:31:42.200 |
So my guess is the picture that we saw, right, 00:31:47.200 |
was probably a tamed picture compared to what was going on in Jesus' life. 00:31:52.200 |
And this is in the beginning of Jesus' ministry. 00:31:55.200 |
And what we saw Elder James and Garrett was doing 00:31:58.200 |
was probably what the disciples--12 disciples were doing constantly. 00:32:02.200 |
They were guards, right, trying to keep people away. Remember that? 00:32:06.200 |
Like everywhere Jesus went, the disciples would have to kind of push people away, 00:32:11.200 |
And that's basically what it was. So imagine that crowd growing. 00:32:19.200 |
Jesus wasn't going around looking for people, 00:32:21.200 |
"Hey, we're going to have this conference over here and advertise. 00:32:26.200 |
These people were following him everywhere he went. 00:32:29.200 |
So when it says 5,000, 5,000 men, most people will believe, 00:32:33.200 |
including women and children, there's 20,000-plus people 00:32:37.200 |
who just couldn't leave him alone, understandably, right? 00:32:43.200 |
He's the answer to people who are crippled, couldn't see, leprosy. 00:32:52.200 |
So that's why it says in verse 42, "When day came, 00:32:55.200 |
Jesus left and went to a secluded place." Day came. 00:32:58.200 |
They mean from sundown until the sun came back up, 00:33:02.200 |
Jesus was healing them all night because they wouldn't leave him alone. 00:33:11.200 |
It says, "When day came, he tried to break away, 00:33:13.200 |
and when they saw that he broke away, they chased him down." 00:33:16.200 |
The crowds were searching for him and came to him 00:33:18.200 |
and tried to keep him from going away from them, obviously. 00:33:23.200 |
We're so exhausted after four days, but we get to jump on our Jeeps, 00:33:27.200 |
and then we get back to the hotel, and we have a safe haven for a few hours, 00:33:32.200 |
And then when we're absolutely burnt out on Friday, we're gone. 00:33:35.200 |
We get to come back home, and then we can recuperate. 00:33:50.200 |
But the question we have this morning is, what is the purpose of this? 00:33:56.200 |
Did Jesus come because he knew that they didn't have access to medicine, 00:34:03.200 |
He knew that they were hungry people, so he went and decided to feed them. 00:34:08.200 |
We need to understand the purpose of why Jesus is doing this, 00:34:14.200 |
It's a great story of how Jesus was compassionate, 00:34:17.200 |
and a man who had authority and power over demons were doing miraculous things, 00:34:24.200 |
Here's a great man who did great humanitarian work, and then he disappeared. 00:34:33.200 |
We need to be careful because we can sensationalize anything that seems miraculous. 00:34:40.200 |
It's like, oh, there must be the work of God. 00:34:43.200 |
I know that some of you guys know that there's been a lot of report of revival 00:34:48.200 |
breaking out on campuses, and people are eager to say, oh, that must be a revival. 00:34:53.200 |
I'm not going to get into whether that's a revival or not, 00:34:56.200 |
and if it is a revival, that it's just the beginning stages of that. 00:35:02.200 |
But we need to be careful that we understand what God is doing in our midst 00:35:07.200 |
and what revival looks like and what revival really, the end purpose is. 00:35:14.200 |
Why is Jesus doing this outside of stirring people up and helping people? 00:35:21.200 |
So he had work to do on the cross, and then while he was heading there, 00:35:27.200 |
He ran into a lot of hurt people, hungry people. 00:35:29.200 |
So in his in-between time, he took time to take care of them. 00:35:38.200 |
There's nothing that Jesus did that was disconnected with his purpose. 00:35:44.200 |
Everything he did and said was very purposeful. 00:35:49.200 |
Even in this, this was not something--he went to preach, 00:35:51.200 |
and then all of a sudden all these people came, so he started healing them. 00:35:54.200 |
His healing, casting out demons, even raising the dead, 00:35:57.200 |
was specifically for the purpose of going to that cross. 00:36:02.200 |
There's three things I want to mention this morning 00:36:09.200 |
First of all, it clearly points to Jesus' authority and power. 00:36:14.200 |
We've been looking at that in the previous passages, how he cast out demons, 00:36:17.200 |
and he had the power and authority to do that. 00:36:20.200 |
This morning, we're going to look at his power to heal diseases. 00:36:25.200 |
But in Luke 4, 36-37, the previous text, it says, 00:36:28.200 |
"An amazement came upon all of them, and they began talking with one another, 00:36:34.200 |
For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.' 00:36:40.200 |
And the report of him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district." 00:36:45.200 |
So what was it about Jesus that was spreading? 00:36:49.200 |
What was the reputation that was spreading and people were sharing with each other? 00:37:02.200 |
And so that's how the previous passage ends, and then we are looking at verse 38. 00:37:09.200 |
It says, "He got up and left the synagogue and entered Simon's home." 00:37:18.200 |
And so if you remember last time, I think it was last time or the two weeks prior, 00:37:22.200 |
they said the archaeologists believe that they found this synagogue that Jesus was preaching in Capernaum, 00:37:29.200 |
and nearby, maybe less than a block away, walking distance, 00:37:33.200 |
they found where they believe was Peter's home. 00:37:37.200 |
That Peter's home was near the synagogue, which means most likely Peter was pretty-- 00:37:45.200 |
So you guys who've been to India with us, you know that rec center that we use, right? 00:37:51.200 |
And that's where they do all the teaching and all the stuff that we do. 00:37:54.200 |
People who live near that structure are usually more wealthy than normal people. 00:37:59.200 |
So the poorer people, the further you come away from that building, their houses look a little bit more shady. 00:38:05.200 |
And the people who are closer to that, because that's kind of like the epicenter of the community, 00:38:09.200 |
which means Peter was probably a wealthy fisherman. 00:38:12.200 |
And that's the reason why we know that Jesus uses that house as their home base. 00:38:19.200 |
And when he would go out to Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin, 00:38:22.200 |
and whenever he would return, this is the home that they would go to. 00:38:25.200 |
And this is where most likely that paralyzed man is healed, where Jesus says, "Your sins are forgiven." 00:38:32.200 |
He goes to Simon's home because Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a fever. 00:38:37.200 |
So from this, we know that Peter was married, right? 00:38:39.200 |
You can't have a mother-in-law unless you have a wife. 00:38:42.200 |
So we know that he's married, and she has a high fever, and they ask him to help her. 00:38:48.200 |
And the way that Jesus responds is he rebukes the fever, just like the way he rebuked the demons, right? 00:38:57.200 |
So it may ask, like, why does he rebuke it? Why doesn't he just lay hands and heal her? 00:39:03.200 |
It may ask you, like, when is rebuking appropriate? 00:39:11.200 |
If you rebuke every time you don't like something, you probably have a problem, right? 00:39:16.200 |
You go to a coffee shop, and you order something, and say, "I said tall, not venti!" 00:39:27.200 |
It's like, "It's too salty! What's wrong with you?" 00:39:29.200 |
So every time you don't like something, you end up in rebuke. 00:39:35.200 |
There's something wrong with your personality. 00:39:43.200 |
When it is clearly wrong, that this needs to be rectified immediately. 00:39:49.200 |
This is not something that we're going to counsel, it's going to take years to sanctify, 00:39:53.200 |
and we're going to find a solution, and we're going to have a five-step program. 00:39:56.200 |
It's like, no, rebuking is appropriate when it is clearly wrong. 00:40:00.200 |
There is no debate, and there needs to be a fix immediately, right? 00:40:04.200 |
So if you have a child who's disobeying, and he is headed toward danger, 00:40:17.200 |
Which means, when he rebuked the demons, there's no discussion, right? 00:40:23.200 |
There's no agreement. We're going to come to an agreement. 00:40:25.200 |
There's no process. He said, "No, get out. Be quiet and get out." 00:40:29.200 |
And in the same way, he rebukes this fever, because fever was not intended in God's creation. 00:40:41.200 |
In fact, the Bible says that all of creation groaned, waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. 00:40:47.200 |
It's because of the sin that Adam and Eve brought into mankind. 00:40:51.200 |
It says all that they were to rule also was tainted by sin. 00:40:55.200 |
So fever, disease, demon possession is related to sin. 00:41:01.200 |
Jesus rebukes the fever just like he rebukes the demons. 00:41:05.200 |
And as soon as he rebukes, it says the fever leaves immediately. 00:41:13.200 |
There's no period where he feels better each day. 00:41:18.200 |
Now you have to understand, in our day, when somebody has a fever, 00:41:23.200 |
we don't even ask for prayer because we got an aspirin. 00:41:27.200 |
And if it gets bad enough, you might run to the hospital. 00:41:41.200 |
If you don't treat high fever, according to WebMD, 00:41:45.200 |
so the doctors, if you have a problem with what I'm saying, contact them. 00:41:50.200 |
If it is untreated, it could lead to seizures, brain damage, and even death. 00:42:01.200 |
Oh, she couldn't go to work, had to take some time off. 00:42:03.200 |
This could be life-threatening to somebody who has no access to medicine. 00:42:07.200 |
In fact, most of the diseases and things that have to be dealt with in Jesus' ministry 00:42:16.200 |
Many of it may not be anything to us, but to them, without access to medicine. 00:42:20.200 |
And so Jesus rebukes, and immediately she gets up, 00:42:24.200 |
and the mother-in-law gets up and starts serving. 00:42:28.200 |
"Oh, you've been sick for a while. Why don't you rest? 00:42:31.200 |
Give it three or four days. You don't want to exhaust yourself." 00:42:34.200 |
Immediately, her healing was immediate and it was so complete 00:42:38.200 |
that she was able to get up and start serving people. 00:42:45.200 |
That there was clearly power and authority with this man. 00:42:52.200 |
In fact, in Acts 2, verse 22, as Peter introduces Christ to this crowd, 00:42:59.200 |
he says, "Men of Israel, listen to these words. 00:43:02.200 |
Jesus of Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs, 00:43:07.200 |
which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know." 00:43:15.200 |
Jesus was given to you through miracles, wonders, and signs. 00:43:18.200 |
So first and foremost, it was to distinguish him from anybody else like him, 00:43:24.200 |
distinguish him from the scribes, distinguish him from the Pharisees, 00:43:28.200 |
that this power and authority was clearly marking him as somebody who was different. 00:43:35.200 |
He had power and authority that the scribes did not have, 00:43:42.200 |
But what was the purpose of that? Just that, oh, he's a special man. 00:43:46.200 |
He has power and authority. He's doing things that we haven't seen before. 00:43:49.200 |
If it ends there, you would have missed the whole point. 00:43:54.200 |
Jesus is a great man, performed miracles, he fed the poor, blind people were seeing. 00:43:59.200 |
If that's all we know about Christ, you missed the whole purpose of why he did what he did. 00:44:07.200 |
The reason why he was attested with signs and miracles was to prove that this was a man 00:44:14.200 |
with power and authority and was sent from God, that this was from God. 00:44:20.200 |
In Exodus chapter 4, remember the story where Moses is called and he said, "Go tell Pharaoh." 00:44:27.200 |
Remember, even though Moses grew up in the Pharaoh's home, 00:44:32.200 |
he spent 40 years out in the desert taking care of sheep. 00:44:36.200 |
So after 40 years, I mean, whatever he had at the Pharaoh's home, he doesn't have anymore. 00:44:41.200 |
This was a lowly job that he did, and he's calling this guy to go talk to Pharaoh, 00:44:49.200 |
humanly speaking, the most powerful king on the whole earth. 00:44:56.200 |
He said, "Go tell Pharaoh that I told him to let my people go." 00:45:03.200 |
So Moses' response is understandable. It's like, "You want me to go and talk to Pharaoh 00:45:09.200 |
and not ask him, not negotiate with him, tell him that my God is telling you to let my people go? 00:45:19.200 |
What if he doesn't believe me?" Right? I mean, that would be the common question that we would all have. 00:45:25.200 |
"What if he doesn't believe me?" And that's when God tells him, he's like, "Go, and I will show you." 00:45:30.200 |
And he begins to perform miracles so that Moses would have confidence. 00:45:35.200 |
And then he says, "If you go and he doesn't listen," and then he says the 10 plagues. 00:45:39.200 |
And all of that to prove that Moses was a man sent from God. 00:45:45.200 |
It wasn't because Moses was a articulate man. It wasn't because of his authority or his talent or his potential. 00:45:53.200 |
It was simply to identify that this man was sent by God. 00:45:57.200 |
So all power and authority that comes with Almighty God, he represents. 00:46:07.200 |
That there is power and authority on him by the power of the Holy Spirit 00:46:16.200 |
In John 3, 1 and 2, Nicodemus comes to him at night because he's seen his miracles, and he wanted to make sure. 00:46:28.200 |
"There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night." 00:46:34.200 |
Why did he come by night? Because his friends would have persecuted him. 00:46:42.200 |
These guys lived their whole lives trying to get honor through the law. 00:46:50.200 |
When they saw him, he says, "Repent, bear fruit in according to your repentance." 00:46:54.200 |
In other words, your repentance means nothing. 00:46:57.200 |
Do you know what that means? They were actually coming for repentance. 00:47:01.200 |
But the problem was their repentance didn't bear any fruit. 00:47:07.200 |
They were already embarrassed, so they've already decided. 00:47:10.200 |
The seeds were already planted in their heart, "We've got to get rid of this guy." 00:47:13.200 |
And Nicodemus, one of them, comes at night because he doesn't want to be seen. 00:47:17.200 |
But if you look at it, it says they came to him at night. 00:47:19.200 |
"Rabbi, we know that you have come from God. We." 00:47:25.200 |
It was other friends who were probably discussing and were kind of on the same page as Nicodemus. 00:47:29.200 |
Nicodemus represents these minority Pharisees coming to Jesus. 00:47:35.200 |
"We know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." 00:47:43.200 |
And this is exactly why he was performing miracles. 00:47:46.200 |
So that they would realize that Jesus was not just any man. 00:47:54.200 |
We see again in John chapter 9, the same profession. 00:47:59.200 |
If you look at, I think we put it up there, John chapter 9. 00:48:04.200 |
Here's this man where Jesus heals his blindness. 00:48:08.200 |
The leaders of Israel are trying to suppress this truth. 00:48:12.200 |
This must not have happened because if this is a man of God, he's making us look like a fool. 00:48:18.200 |
So they've already determined in their mind they're going to disprove this. 00:48:25.200 |
He wasn't really blind. This is all a hoax. This is a trick. 00:48:30.200 |
And the answer that his parents give is that whether blind or not, all I know is yes, he was blind. 00:48:37.200 |
But whether he's a sinner or he's from God or not, ask my son. 00:48:42.200 |
Now, if you look at that encounter, and it seems very cold-hearted because you would think the parents would stand up for him. 00:48:51.200 |
You know what this shows me is that the parents were probably already detached from him. 00:48:56.200 |
Because at that time, if you were blind, especially if you became an adult, not only was he blind and it was a hard life, 00:49:06.200 |
So in order to get the curse out of your house, he needs to get out of your house. 00:49:09.200 |
So this man was probably living as a homeless beggar. 00:49:13.200 |
And the fact that the way they answer already means that it seems like they've already kind of abandoned him. 00:49:20.200 |
So they decide to go to this man who was born blind, but Jesus opens his eyes and they bring him over and say, 00:49:27.200 |
"There's no way that this sinner could have done this. This is all a trick." 00:49:32.200 |
Now, you have to understand, the difficulty, obviously, of being blind is difficult in and of itself. 00:49:40.200 |
But at that particular time, because they considered a curse of God, they were considered unclean. 00:49:49.200 |
They were cast out. They couldn't get a job. They couldn't get married. 00:49:55.200 |
So in order for him to get back into society, these leaders have to give the stamp of approval. 00:50:01.200 |
Remember the lepers? Like in the book of Leviticus, once you get clean, you have to show yourself to a priest, 00:50:05.200 |
and the priest has to ordain you clean before you can re-enter. 00:50:13.200 |
And that's the reason why his parents were afraid to go against them. 00:50:17.200 |
And he's standing before them, trying to get him to say, "You did not experience a miracle," 00:50:24.200 |
forcing him to do that in order to suppress Jesus' popularity. 00:50:28.200 |
And it is that context where he responds to them in verse 30. 00:50:31.200 |
"The man answered and said to them, 'Well, here's an amazing thing, 00:50:35.200 |
that you do not know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes.'" 00:50:43.200 |
He's standing in front of the leaders, and he needs their approval to get back into society. 00:50:48.200 |
And he said, "Well, here's an interesting thing." 00:50:51.200 |
Verse 31, "We know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him." 00:51:04.200 |
This guy was living as a homeless guy, probably begging just days ago. 00:51:09.200 |
And he's standing before them, he's like, "I got some theology for you." 00:51:13.200 |
"You talk great about the Sabbath and all that." 00:51:20.200 |
"How can that be? What you're saying doesn't make any sense." 00:51:23.200 |
In verse 33, "If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." 00:51:29.200 |
And they answered him, "You were born entirely in sin, and are you teaching us?" 00:51:38.200 |
The very reason why the parents would not defend him was for this reason. 00:51:52.200 |
And then the very next chapter is where Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd." 00:52:00.200 |
Because they were afraid of these shepherds, these false shepherds. 00:52:04.200 |
We're preventing them from coming to God, and Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd." 00:52:10.200 |
This is the very reason why these miracles were taking place, in order to identify that Jesus was from God. 00:52:17.200 |
In fact, Jesus himself says in his own words, John 10, chapter 37, 38, 00:52:22.200 |
"If I do not do the works my father do, do not believe me." 00:52:27.200 |
If I give you no proof, and I'm just talking, do not believe me. 00:52:31.200 |
But if I do them, though you do not believe me, believe the works so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father. 00:52:43.200 |
"You can deny me, you can hate me, you can call me a sinner, and you won't believe me, but at least look at what's been done." 00:52:53.200 |
You know what's interesting about this is, everything he does, he does in public. 00:53:00.200 |
He doesn't go to a side room where he performs his miracle, and then he relies on his disciples. 00:53:09.200 |
I remember years ago, when the charismatic movement was in full swing, back in the 80s and early 90s. 00:53:22.200 |
We're spending so much time discipling, training. 00:53:32.200 |
When I was a youth pastor, I took my whole youth group out. 00:53:39.200 |
We stood in front of Irvine High School, and I had them preach the gospel in public. 00:53:45.200 |
One is so that they can be trained to be bold, to preach the gospel. 00:53:49.200 |
Second is so that the world would be crucified to them. 00:53:54.200 |
Because they can never be cool, after you did public preaching in front of your friends. 00:54:03.200 |
I was just thinking, "But if I had the gift of healing, I would just go in front of all of them and just heal them." 00:54:14.200 |
In my mind, I'm thinking, "If I could just have this gift." 00:54:19.200 |
Any healing service that they had, I would go. 00:54:23.200 |
Down in Vineyard, John Wimber was having this healing service. 00:54:39.200 |
He was calling tall people who had legs that were crooked. 00:54:44.200 |
About seven or eight of them came up to the service. 00:54:46.200 |
They said, "Anybody who has never seen a miracle, come forward." 00:54:49.200 |
I went up, and I took maybe about 15 of our youth group kids up. 00:54:53.200 |
Literally, if he was sitting here, it was just us sitting around him. 00:54:57.200 |
John Wimber came around, and he started laying hands, healing. 00:55:00.200 |
Then, for whatever reason, when it came to this man, he stood up and said, "Miracle took place!" 00:55:10.200 |
I'm watching this, and I didn't see anything. 00:55:14.200 |
I'm looking at our youth group students, like, "Did you see anything? Did you see anything?" 00:55:18.200 |
What was most perplexing was his face, because he's confused. 00:55:26.200 |
John Wimber came around, and he grabbed him, put him up, and he said, "Oh, miracle took place! How do you feel?" 00:55:32.200 |
You could tell, even the way he would respond, "Glory to God!" 00:55:43.200 |
But that day, 3,000 people went out of that room, and I bet you, even to this day, which is more than 30 years ago, 00:55:51.200 |
to this day, 3,000 people probably went out of that room saying, "I saw a miracle." 00:55:57.200 |
Now, I'm not saying that miracles don't happen. I'm not saying miracles don't happen. 00:56:07.200 |
But so much of close examination at that time, what I was seeing, my end conclusion is God can do whatever he wants, 00:56:16.200 |
and he does work miracles, but what I'm seeing, 00:56:20.200 |
this is a lot of hype, Jesus' miracles, they couldn't deny. 00:56:27.200 |
He performed it in front of people who hated him. 00:56:32.200 |
And even though they wanted to discount him, even though they didn't want anything to do with him, 00:56:37.200 |
they said they couldn't deny what they were seeing. 00:56:39.200 |
In fact, remember when Lazarus was raised from the dead? 00:56:42.200 |
They couldn't deny because so many people saw this. 00:56:53.200 |
And so they actually paid to suppress this truth 00:56:59.200 |
because they already determined in their mind that this is not from God. 00:57:03.200 |
They couldn't deny his miracles, so they said, "I can't deny what's happening, but it must not be from God. 00:57:14.200 |
See, the difference between a lot of what we see today 00:57:19.200 |
and what Jesus was doing is even the people who wanted to crucify him couldn't deny his works. 00:57:28.200 |
So that people would know that this was God's man. 00:57:33.200 |
But if we stop right here, you would also miss the whole point 00:57:37.200 |
because it wasn't just, "Oh, he has power and authority, and he was a humanitarian, 00:57:41.200 |
and he fed a lot of people, and he healed people." 00:57:44.200 |
Clearly, he did that because he was a man from God. 00:57:47.200 |
But if we stop here, we miss the whole point because the reason why he does that 00:57:52.200 |
is the third reason, to get a platform to preach about the kingdom of God. 00:57:59.200 |
The whole reason why we are out in the boonies of India is for the same reason. 00:58:04.200 |
We go out there, and we, our doctors and DBS and various things that are doing, 00:58:10.200 |
is after they leave, it's like, "Wow, why are these people coming all the way over here? 00:58:22.200 |
That's what they say. "Why are these rich people?" 00:58:24.200 |
They say, "These rich people who are Christians, who are doctors, who are living in nice homes, 00:58:31.200 |
compared to them, we're multi-billionaires compared to them. 00:58:39.200 |
After we do that, they're curious, so they ask the pastors to come back. 00:58:44.200 |
They ask them, "What do you believe? What are you preaching? What is Christianity about?" 00:58:49.200 |
Everything that Jesus did was to identify authority and power, 00:58:54.200 |
and this authority and power was given to him because of God, 00:58:58.200 |
so that, he says in verse 34, 33, "I must preach the kingdom." 00:59:03.200 |
When they came to him, said, "Don't leave us because we need you to continue to heal. 00:59:07.200 |
I have my mother, my brother, my uncle who is sick," and they wouldn't let him go. 00:59:11.200 |
Jesus says, "No, I have to go because I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also. 00:59:17.200 |
For I was sent for this purpose," so he kept on preaching in the synagogue of Judea. 00:59:23.200 |
He didn't say, "God sent me to heal. God sent me to do this and that." 00:59:27.200 |
Although that was part of his ministry, he said, "All of that so that I can preach about the kingdom of God." 00:59:39.200 |
2. "For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, 00:59:45.200 |
For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, 00:59:49.200 |
and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 00:59:53.200 |
how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? 00:59:56.200 |
After it was first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 01:00:01.200 |
God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and various miracles 01:00:07.200 |
and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will." 01:00:12.200 |
God attested that this man, Jesus, was from him. 01:00:17.200 |
So therefore what? Just to marvel? Just to honor him? 01:00:27.200 |
Just to pay attention to what he had to say. Pay attention to what he was saying. 01:00:35.200 |
They didn't have a problem with what he was doing. 01:00:52.200 |
When you have a disaster out in Ukraine, you know who's over there? 01:00:57.200 |
When they don't have water in Africa, you know who's over there? 01:01:01.200 |
You know, in Aceh, a little part of Indonesia where it's like 99% Muslims 01:01:06.200 |
and Christian missionaries could not get in there because they would literally die from going in there. 01:01:13.200 |
Earthquake happened and 80,000 of the people in that area just died instantly 01:01:21.200 |
And then for the first time, Christians were able to get in. 01:01:23.200 |
So Christians in large number and millions of dollars of aid went in through Christian hands. 01:01:31.200 |
And what they were saying was, "Where's our brothers, the Muslims? 01:01:38.200 |
So Christians went in with the aid and it opened the door to the gospel to be preached there. 01:01:45.200 |
Even the Muslims were thanking the Christians for the aid. 01:01:50.200 |
They didn't hate Jesus because of what he was doing. 01:01:57.200 |
In Matthew 9, 6 through 8, when they came to have the leopard or the lame man healed, 01:02:11.200 |
Instead of healing this man, he says, "Your sins are forgiven. 01:02:17.200 |
And then Jesus says to them, "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." 01:02:23.200 |
Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed, and go home." 01:02:29.200 |
But when the crowd saw this, they were awestruck and glorified God who had given such authority to men. 01:02:37.200 |
And Jesus said, "The only reason why I'm performing miracles is so that you would know that I came to forgive sins." 01:02:45.200 |
All of this happens to identify him as a man of God. 01:02:50.200 |
And the primary reason why he came was to forgive sins. 01:02:55.200 |
In fact, you know what's interesting is, Luke 4, 41, as the demons are going out, they're crying out. 01:03:12.200 |
"Rebuking them, he would not allow them to speak because they knew him to be Christ." 01:03:21.200 |
We have to ask the question, they were professing the right doctrine, and yet Jesus would not let them speak. 01:03:27.200 |
Wasn't the purpose of the miracles so that they would know that he is from God, that he is the Christ? 01:03:35.200 |
So why does he muzzle them when they profess the very purpose of his miracle? 01:03:48.200 |
The reason why is because Jesus knew once they realized who he is, that they were going to forcefully make him king for the wrong reason. 01:04:01.200 |
And that's what happens in John 6, 14-15, after performing all these miracles. 01:04:08.200 |
It started with a small crowd, but by this time, feeding of the 5,000, thousands of people would not leave him alone. 01:04:16.200 |
And at the end of that, it says in verse 15, John 6, verse 15, 01:04:21.200 |
"So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone." 01:04:32.200 |
He said, "You want me to be king because you want to eat. 01:04:36.200 |
You want me to be king because you want me to heal you. 01:04:39.200 |
You want me to be king because you're blind and you want me to open your eyes. 01:04:43.200 |
You want me to be king because you have somebody who died and you want me to raise them. 01:04:47.200 |
You don't want me to be king because you know who I am. 01:04:51.200 |
You don't want me to be king because you want your sins forgiven." 01:04:55.200 |
And it's in that context Jesus says, "I am the bread." 01:05:00.200 |
You're looking for the bread through me, but I am the bread. 01:05:06.200 |
You're hoping to find a better life through me. 01:05:13.200 |
You're hoping that I would point you to the better way. 01:05:18.200 |
And as a result of not what he did, but what he said, they turn away from him. 01:05:29.200 |
In fact, in John 6, 41-42, "Therefore the Jews were grumbling about him because he said, 01:05:37.200 |
'I am the bread that came down out of heaven.' 01:05:39.200 |
They were saying, 'Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph?'" 01:05:52.200 |
He says, "Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? 01:05:57.200 |
How does he now say, 'I have come down out of heaven?'" 01:06:03.200 |
And then in John 10-32, "Jesus answered them, 'I showed you many good works from the Father. 01:06:10.200 |
The Jews answered him, 'For good works we do not stone you, but for blasphemy. 01:06:15.200 |
And because you, being a man, make yourself out to be God.'" 01:06:27.200 |
That even the right profession, that they were going to come to him for all the wrong reasons. 01:06:42.200 |
But they needed to recognize the greatest problem was within them. 01:07:02.200 |
Sin has so devastated every part of human experience that even the best of things, once human beings get involved, it becomes corrupt. 01:07:15.200 |
Until they recognized that, Jesus was only a source, a different source, maybe a better source. 01:07:23.200 |
And we're hearing more and more people who don't want to offend the other people and say, 01:07:42.200 |
He is the only way because he's the only one who has authority to forgive sins. 01:07:48.200 |
He's the only one who absorbed our sins upon himself. 01:07:53.200 |
He's the only one who took the punishment that you and I deserved. 01:07:58.200 |
If all Jesus is is an avenue for a better life, yes, Jesus is a way. 01:08:09.200 |
The Bible says that there is no mediator between man and God other than the man, Christ Jesus. 01:08:15.200 |
Because the only way that we can have a relationship restored with this holy, holy, holy God is to deal with our sins. 01:08:28.200 |
Jesus healed, but many more people were not healed. 01:08:40.200 |
But there were many, many more people who are still going hungry to this day. 01:08:46.200 |
He cast out demons, but myriads of demons are still possessing and wanting to harm. 01:09:02.200 |
And what is common to every single one of these people, that whether they lived a little bit longer life, 01:09:08.200 |
whether they were blind and now they were able to live the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years with sight, 01:09:15.200 |
whether they couldn't walk and as a beggar, and as a result they were able to get a job, get married and have children, 01:09:33.200 |
They had a bit more food than they did before. 01:09:40.200 |
Christ did not come simply to make hungry people fill their stomachs. 01:09:44.200 |
He didn't just come so that lame people can walk a little bit better. 01:09:48.200 |
He didn't just come so that somebody who was blind could live with sight on their path to death. 01:09:59.200 |
And the only reason why He did all of that is so that you would know, that I would know, 01:10:04.200 |
that He has the authority and the power because God sent Him. 01:10:13.200 |
So the core of Christianity is not His power and the miracles and the blessing that you get 01:10:20.200 |
because you prayed and better job that you got or you were sick and He healed you. 01:10:26.200 |
That you thought you were going to die and then you lived a little bit longer. 01:10:29.200 |
You had financial problems and God healed you and your business got better. 01:10:36.200 |
Every good and sometimes what perceives to be bad, ultimately, is so that you would know 01:10:44.200 |
that there is salvation in no one else but Jesus Christ. 01:10:53.200 |
That's why for three years He put Himself in those shoes. 01:11:06.200 |
Even the professional fishermen were afraid to dive and He couldn't wake up because He was so fatigued and tired. 01:11:15.200 |
That's why He absorbed our sins upon Himself on that cross. 01:11:21.200 |
And that's why He invites us even to this day. 01:11:25.200 |
He doesn't promise a long life. He doesn't promise a better relationship. 01:11:28.200 |
He doesn't promise a better marriage. But He promises a better eternity. 01:11:34.200 |
Only Him and Him alone has the power and authority to forgive our sins. 01:11:43.200 |
My prayer is our generation, as much as we talk about we must preach the gospel. 01:12:00.200 |
Not treating hunger. I'm not saying that's not important. It's important. 01:12:04.200 |
As Christians, we should exemplify who Jesus is. 01:12:09.200 |
But if all Jesus is, is an avenue for you to have a better life, 01:12:15.200 |
your eternal place is no different than those who rejected Christ. 01:12:21.200 |
If all Jesus is, that you're coming to church hoping that if you're a faithful Christian, 01:12:26.200 |
that somehow your marriage will be fixed, that your children will be better, 01:12:30.200 |
then you are in no better position than the Pharisees who crucified Christ. 01:12:37.200 |
Because you still have not found the answer for your sins. 01:12:47.200 |
That's why this temporary band-aid that most of the world looks for, 01:12:59.200 |
Because we're fed, because we have housing, because we're able to go to school, put money in retirement, 01:13:06.200 |
we think that that's the blessing of God. That is not. 01:13:12.200 |
If you don't know Christ because of that, that's actually your curse. 01:13:22.200 |
And any other Christ that you come to is not the Christ of the Bible. 01:13:34.200 |
Again, as our worship team leads us, let's take some time to pray. 01:13:50.200 |
Some of us, five years, ten years, 20, 30 years at most. 01:13:55.200 |
Some of you may be here another 50, 60, 70 years. 01:13:59.200 |
But every single one of us, this is temporary. 01:14:03.200 |
Whether you're in first class or coach, it's temporary. 01:14:13.200 |
Let's live in a way that at the end of our life, on our deathbed, 01:14:18.200 |
that we're not going to look back the next last 50 years and say, "Ah, I wish I lived with eternity in mind." 01:14:30.200 |
Let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us.